Trump’s Treasury Pick Mnuchin and Family Have Given Millions to Democrats

Justin Haskins is an executive editor at The Heartland Institute. As executive editor, he is responsible for ensuring Heartland’s serial publications — Budget & Tax News, Environment & Climate News, Health Care News, School Reform News, op-eds, and Research & Commentaries — are ready for publication. He is also involved in the production of Heartland books, Policy Studies, and other publications.

President-elect Donald Trump announced this morning he has chosen Steven Mnuchin to lead the Treasury Department when the Trump administration takes over the White House in January. Mnuchin served as Trump’s national campaign finance chairman and has a long history working on Wall Street, where he was employed for 17 years by Goldman Sachs and co-founded the highly successful Dune Capital.

While Mnuchin’s knowledge and expertise of the U.S. financial system is unquestionable, pro-liberty, limited-government people should be concerned by the selection. Mnuchin worked briefly as CEO of George Soros-funded SFM Capital Management and was one of the key funders behind far-left liberal James Cameron’s blockbuster film Avatar, which has radical environmentalist themes.

Even more troubling, Mnuchin and his immediate family are long-time donors of Democratic Party candidates, both nationally and those in the New York City area. According to my original research of Federal Election Commission filings, Mnuchin, his mother and father, Robert and Adriana, and his brother, Alan, and his wife have given more than $2 million to Democratic Party candidates and far-left-wing organizations since 1997.

The family and Steven Mnuchin have also given several donations to a number of Republicans, including John McCain and Mitt Romney, but comparatively speaking, the vast majority of their financial support has gone to Democrats or leftist organizations, such as the League of Conservation Voters.

Donations made to political candidates are not necessarily indicative of what a person will do if he or she is in office, but it is a valid cause for concern.

Some of the donations made by Steven Mnuchin appear below. While reading this list, ask yourselves this: Is the kind of person you want running the Treasury Department?